


Mirrors

by blurryfqce



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Band, M/M, Supernatural Elements, brendon and pete are there really briefly, i listened to a lot of pvris writing this, josh acts like a white person in a horror film in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-18 22:42:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7333525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blurryfqce/pseuds/blurryfqce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After moving into a creepy house and starting school in his new neighborhood, Josh feels that his new life in this town is going to be miserable. That is until he finds an abandoned mirror that's reflection changes his life for the better. But can Josh trust his happiness in something so fragile?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mirrors

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've posted on here lmao

The tired family looked up at the house as they got out of their van. 

It was more of a mansion than a house Josh thought, and to be honest the dark, walls looming over them kind of scared him. He peeled his eyes away quickly when his mother clasped him on the shoulder as she walked to the back of the van to start unpacking. The house was old and kind of beautiful in an eerie way with ivy creeping up the frame of it and aged gargoyles watching from the roof.

“Can you remind me why?” Josh groaned.

“Why what dear?” his mother asked, setting down a box.

“Why of all the places to move, you picked here?” he huffed picking up a box from the moving truck.

“You know why,” she crossed her arms and gave him withering glare.

“We now live in the middle of practically nowhere.” 

“Can you at least try to make this work Josh? Please? For me?” she pleaded.

“Fine, I’ll try for you.”

“Thank you.” 

“No promises though,” Josh mumbled.

He crossed the threshold of the house and immediately noticed the musty smell of decaying wood. He knew the place was old, he just didn’t think it was _that_ old. Readjusting the heavy box in his arms, Josh peered at the off white walls. They looked strange, like something had been painted over. He had a weird feeling about the house. He can’t quite pinpoint the feeling, but it sends chills down his spine. He dismisses it and heads towards his room in the basement. Hopefully the walls will have more color down there. 

It took a while before they had gotten all of their furniture, boxes, and suitcases inside. Josh nearly collapsed on the floor of the basement as soon he set down the last box. It was cold inside, much colder than it had been out in the setting spring sun. He headed back up the stairs to get a blanket, only to find his siblings sitting in the living room floor.

 "How did we get this place for such a cheap price?"Ashley asked as she studied a tapestry hanging next to the dwindling staircase.

"Someone probably died here," Abigail answered as she started sorting out her bags, trying to figure out what was what.

"Maybe someone hid their victims here? This place is old dude. And big. There could be dead bodies in the wall," Jordan said, amazement apparent in his voice.

Everyone in the room scooted slightly away from the walls. 

"That's creepy dude," Josh replied "That is some real horror shit right there, please don't tell me it's haunted cause I will sleep in the van and after that eleven hour drive I really don't wanna sleep in the van."

Jordan laughed at the concerned look on his brother's face.

"Jordan! Leave your siblings alone! It's not haunted, just dusty and cold. Now help me figure out where all this stuff needs to go and then we can go to sleep. You guys have school tomorrow so I suggest you do it fast,” their dad interjected on the house theories.

A collection of groans came from the group of tired teenagers as they collected their items to help their dad.

“Don’t give me that. You guys need an education,” he said in response to the groaning. 

When Josh finally laid in his makeshift bed and snuggled under several blankets he realized just how tired he was. His muscles ached from moving copious amounts of heavy furniture all day. “ _Great,_ ” he thought. He was definitely going to feel that  dull pain in his arms tomorrow. “ _Ugh, tomorrow.”_ he scrunched up his nose at the thought of tomorrow. There was so much he worried about; Would he get dress coded for his blue hair? What is he going to say when the teachers introduce him? Did he have enough money for lunch? What if they only sell food he doesn’t like? What if he doesn’t like his classes? He wasn't worried much about finding friends, he was worried about getting through the day without saying something he’d regret.

That night he didn’t dream much. Or if he did, he didn’t remember that morning. He simply closed his eyes and opened them again five hours later by an obnoxious alarm. He turned to hit the snooze button feeling the ache in his body. Sleeping on a few blankets and calling it a bed didn’t help his muscles much. He groaned while he looked around before grabbing clothes. Josh had simply dumped his bags there last night without really giving it much of a second thought. 

After finding a set of clothes that didn’t look too dirty he made his way up the stairs and into the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was the smell of burning toast. “ _When did they have time to set up the kitchen?”_ he wondered. His family was a mess this morning; Everyone was trying to get ready before the day had to start. Bickering and shouting could be heard from all sides of the house, which is kind of impressive considering how big it is. Josh didn’t bother much with breakfast. He didn’t want to risk throwing up due to anxiety. He kissed his mother on the cheek and wished her luck at her new job before he left the house.

“Try to make friends!” she called out before Josh shut the front door.

“Don’t count on it,” he mumbled to himself behind the closed door.

Josh took a deep breath before turning around and started his way to the bus stop. He glanced at the dense forest that surrounded the neighborhood as he walked. Maybe after school he would take a hike around it. He did find a sense of comfort in the trees after all. “ _Maybe living here won’t be too bad,”_ he thought. Of course he thought way too soon. When he arrived at the bus stop he immediately felt a panic rise in him when he saw other people at the stop. “ _Oh no they’re staring! They probably think I’m weird! Maybe I didn’t do my hair right? What if my zipper is down?”_ Josh gripped his backpack tighter, briefly checked his pants and kept walking towards the stop. He hoped the bus ride wouldn’t take too long.

Keeping his head down as he waited, he shivered slightly. The air was cool from the overcast weather. Josh didn’t think the weather could mirror his mood any better. He kept rehearsing his classroom intro over and over and over in his head, he couldn’t risk the idea of not knowing what to say in front of all those people that he’d be stuck with for the rest of the year. That would be a nightmare. Josh felt sick at the thought of that happening and instead focused on what he might find walking through the trees after school. So absorbed in this thought, he didn’t notice a figure approach him until it clasped his shoulder. Immediately Josh jumped slightly and pulled out one of his headphones.

“What?” he said a little harsher than he meant to.

“Um, the bus is here…” a short boy with a lip piercing had said gesturing to the yellow bus.

“Oh, uh, thanks.” Josh mumbled as he followed the boy onto the bus.

He mentally punched himself for making that such an awkward exchange. He scanned the bus for an empty seat in the sea of noisy people. After getting urged to sit by the bus driver Josh settled for a seat next to a mousy haired boy with glasses that seemed to be fairly quiet. Neither of them spoke the whole ride to school which was a relief to Josh. Josh drummed along to his music on his leg for most of the ride. As the bus neared the school Josh double checked his hair in the reflection of his phone. He wanted to make sure he looked somewhat presentable when he walked into the front office. 

Josh took a deep breath as he got off the bus and looked around for the front office. _“It must be inside?”_ he asked himself. He made his way to the entrance of the school, trying his best to not look lost. Eventually he found the office once the giant crowd that clogged the hallways cleared up. The sound of sneakers squeaking against the linoleum floor could be heard as two students rushed down the hall in an attempt to beat the bell. Josh didn’t pay much attention to that, he mostly just wanted to get his schedule and get this day over with.

He was pretty sure his guidance counselor hated him. Her sarcastic tone she used while explaining the school system and classes, proved Josh's assumptions true. _“She probably thinks I’m some kind of delinquent.”_ Josh sighed as he left the office. Now he had to find his locker and his first hour class. After a few minutes of searching the empty halls he found his locker. He was relieved to find that it wasn’t too far from any of his classes other than physics in the basement. Josh slumped his backpack off his shoulder and onto the ground so he could organize his locker. He didn’t notice he had some company.

“So-” a voice had started, but was quickly cut off by Josh getting startled. 

“AH!” 

“Whoa! Sorry, haha. Didn’t mean to scare you! Name’s Pete. Forehead here,” Pete gestured to the taller boy next to him. “ Is called Brendon.”

“Josh,” he said with no intention of keeping the conversation going as he struggled to open the locker.

Brendon and Pete leaned on the lockers on either side of Josh. Pete was a few inches shorter than Josh with bleached hair and tan skin. Brendon was quite a bit taller than both Josh and Pete with his hair done in a quiff and had a constant smirk on his face.

“Nice name. So, as I was saying before you screamed-” Pete started.

“I-I didn’t scream.” Josh mumbled.

“You’re right it was more like a squeal,” Brendon chimed in.

“You’re the new kid right?” Pete continued.

“Yeah, you moved into that old mansion didn’t you? You’re a Senior aren’t you?” Brendon asked

“How did yo-”

“We saw you heading to the office like a lost puppy.” Said Pete.

“Yeah and no one's lived in that house for years, plus I live right next to you so I kinda figured-”

“Anyways,” Pete interjected. “We wanted to offer you some advice, show you around the school, tell you which classes are going to be a pain in the ass. Only if you want though,”

“Of course he does!” Brendon scoffed “Speaking of classes, what does your schedule look like Joshie?” He reached for the paper the blue haired boy gripped tightly.

Josh batted his hand away. “Do _not_ call me that. I don't know, I just want to get my damn locker op-”

He gave it an exceptionally hard tug causing it to swing open and make him stumble to the ground.

“Voila,” Brendon said dramatically, giggling at Josh’s mishap. “It’s open.”

“Shut up, you guys are the worst,” Josh complained with a hint of a smile on his face. 

“Aw c’mon. Is that any way to talk to your new friends?” Pete said with a faux pout looking down at Josh.

Once he was back on his feet, Josh shoved his bag in the locker, deciding to unpack his things later. There were classes to get to and he didn’t want to risk being late to any of them. The second bell rang and students began scampering through the hallways. Josh grabbed a few notebooks and pencils from his bag and rummaged through his pocket for his schedule. Both Pete and Brendon gave Josh a pat on the shoulder.

“We gotta go, catch up with you later. Maybe we’ll see you in another class!”  Pete said before they slipped away into the crowd and down the hall.

Before Josh could even blink someone had knocked his books out of his hands before hurrying off in the opposite direction. Josh glared after him as he picked up his things and began walking down the hall. He scanned the schedule for the number of his first hour. The hallway was emptying quickly, and Josh sighed loudly as he realized his first hour was on the second floor. He bolted for the staircase and went up two steps at a time.

The last bell rang just as Josh burst into the classroom in a moderately disheveled state, struggling to keep a grip on his books, papers threatening to fall from his hands, a shoelace halfway undone, and he could see a blue strand of hair slipping in front of his eyes. The teacher standing at the front of the room gave him a harsh look. The classroom was quiet except for Josh’s labored breathing, and he blushed a bright shade of pink. He stammered an apology for being almost late and made his way through the desks to the only remaining empty seat, in the middle of the room. Josh looked up to the ceiling and sighed inwardly _“Of course,”_ he slipped quickly into the seat and glared threateningly at the boy next to him who struggled to hold his laughter.

The rest of the school day didn’t go as smooth either. Josh kept getting lost during passing period, was nearly late to every class, tripped down the stairs on multiple occasions, and couldn’t find Brendon or Pete during lunch to name a few of the mishaps that took place. He was exhausted to say the least. The only good thing was that school was finally over. Maybe now he could take a walk through the forest. In fact, he was going to, nothing was going to stop him. He needed something to clear his mind. _“ What an awful start,”_ Josh sighed as he made his way to the buses. _“It’s bad enough I’m starting school in the middle of the year, it’s even worse that I did everything I was scared of doing,”_ he sat in the same seat from the morning ride however, he was now accompanied by Brendon. Josh groaned, he just wanted a quiet ride home. Brendon was surprisingly pretty quiet the whole ride. He probably heard about Josh’s little slip ups all day. After all, he was the talk of the town. Who wouldn’t know at this point? When the bus pulled to their stop Brendon had made Josh an offer of beating up anyone he wanted after today. Josh cracked a smile and let out a small chuckle as he politely declined and thanked him for the offer.

The dreary weather had began to get darker. The sky turned a greater shade of grey as droplets of rain began to fall. Josh thought this was the perfect time to take a walk down in the forest. Walking right past the mansion Josh went straight for the mossy forest with no hesitation or second thought. He immediately felt a sense of calm wash over him when he walked through the wall of trees. Taking in the fresh smell of the pine trees surrounding him, he smiled. For once today he thought _“It’ll get better.”_ Josh continued to roam through the forest finding a path along the way. The path didn’t look very used but, for some reason he was drawn to it. He hummed along to the song playing in his headphones as he walked the overgrown path. At the end of it he found something that made him smile with wonder. _“A tree house!”_ he suddenly felt like a kid again. With no hesitation Josh climbed up the ladder of the treehouse. The rope ladder was muddy from the weather and time it endured here. The house itself looked well made despite the rickety vibe of it. Inside it there were chest like boxes that were starting to decay, a hammock hung in the corner looking tattered and worn out. _“I guess no one’s been here for a while,”_ Josh thought as he set his backpack down and began to look through the chests. He found mostly old books and a few blankets. A journal here and there but sadly, most of the items were pretty water damaged and broken beyond repair. Just as Josh was about to get his stuff and leave, he heard a noise, almost like a whisper. _“Probably the wind,”_ he shrugged as he turned the direction the sound came from. There, he noticed another box. It was smaller than the rest, no wonder he didn’t notice it the first time. 

Inside the box was a hand held mirror. It didn’t appear to be too broken or damaged, with only minor spots of grime and dirt on the reflective surface. There were a few cracks and chips on the handle of it. The back was embezzled with intricate swirls and designs that were covered in dirt. For some reason, Josh couldn’t take his eyes off the mirror. It was eerily beautiful for reasons he couldn’t explain. He decided to take the mirror. _“No one’s been here for a while, I don’t think they’ll miss it,”_ he thought in an attempt to feel less guilty about it. _“If I leave it here it’ll only get ruined,”_ Josh shoved the mirror in his backpack. The drizzle turned into a full on rainstorm and he wouldn’t want to risk breaking the mirror. Josh decided he should make his way home now, the last place he wanted to be in a rainstorm is lost in the forest.

Josh moved his dripping hair out of his face as he made it to the front door. The rain got surprisingly worse leaving Josh in a waterlogged state but hey, at least the mirror was safe. He removed his shoes when he entered the house, trying to not get water everywhere. There was no way his mom wouldn’t scold him for staying out in the rain so he sneaked his way to his room or rather attempted to. He tripped over the stairs, making a loud thump _“Jesus Christ! What is it with me and stairs today?”_. Either his mom is deaf or she just decided to ignore the noise because there was no response to the fall. Josh let out a sigh of relief and decided to take a warm a shower then go to bed. He needed all the sleep he could get after what happened today.  

The next few days all Josh could think about was the strange mirror and the tree house. It didn’t help that he forgot to take the mirror out of his backpack before going to the bus this morning. There were so many questions Josh had about them. How did the mirror get there? Why was it the only thing intact? How long has the tree house been standing there? Does the mirror belong to the same person that built the tree house? This discovery was the most interesting thing to happen to Josh since he moved here. Well, that and his two new “friends”. Right now, all Josh wanted to do was go back there and try to find some answers. Or maybe he would just lay on the floor of it and take in the atmosphere maybe take a nap, whichever happened first.

Today went by surprisingly fast that when Josh got on the bus he groaned after the weight of how much homework he had today finally hit him. So much for going to the tree house after school. He never got another chance to go back since that first day. Josh figured he was going to be up for a while trying to finish this load. Sighing, he got off the bus and headed home. He was greeted by his mother asking questions of how his day went. As much as he loved her he needed to get his work done. After telling her about the enormous pile of work Josh walked down to the basement. He practically collapsed on the bed once he removed his backpack and changed into sweatpants. Letting out a final sigh he decided to get a start on his work. He removed the mirror from the backpack and set it on his bedside table along with his assignments on his bed. Josh couldn’t stand the room being so eerily quiet as he worked, but he would never get his work done with music on. He’d be too busy drumming on the paper with his pencils instead of doing his work.

After several hours of silent working Josh was finally done with his mountain of work. _“Why so much?? It’s only my first week here, you’d think they would at least go easy on me for a little bit,”_ Josh decided not to dwell on it since there wasn’t any way he could stop it. He had actually finished a few hours earlier than he thought he would so he thought he deserved some down time. Turning on the Tv that stood in front of his bed Josh began to get comfortable on top of the covers. After channel surfing for several minutes he settled for watching some cartoons. For some odd reason the volume kept changing from quiet to loud and the audio sounded sort of warped as well. The channels kept changing on their own every so often as well. Eventually Josh gave up watching TV. He would worry about fixing it this weekend probably. _“It is an old TV after all. Maybe it got knocked around during the move.”_ he reasoned as he yawned. He got under the blankets of his bed that was finally put together and drifted to sleep.

Over the course of the next week Josh noticed some strange things happening around the house. He never really gave them much thought. Like the hand print in the shower steam on the mirror, Josh just figured it was his brother trying to mess with him. It was only a concern when the hand prints turned into drawings and cryptic messages. Josh didn’t want to think it was anything other than his brother trying to push the whole “This house is haunted” gag. So, he would wipe the prints and words without a second thought. Today's shower message read

“ **IT’S LONELY IN THE MIRROR JOSH. WHY DO YOU KEEP IGNORING ME?”**

It was followed by a hand print and a frowning face. Josh erased it after he wrapped a towel around his waist. This was the last time this would happen Josh was sure of that. He busted into his younger brothers room. Jordan jumped slightly at the invasion of his room.

“What?” he said annoyed.

“Stop writing things in the mirror while I shower,” Josh said bluntly.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“C’mon I know you’re doing it. This was funny the first few times but now it’s just annoying.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about dude.”

Josh was beyond annoyed at this point. “Yeah, whatever just stop it okay?”

“If I say I’ll stop will you leave?” Jordan sighed.

“Yes.”

“I’ll stop.”

For some reason Josh didn’t believe him, but he said he would leave so he had to now. He gave his brother one final glare before he left the room. Once he finished his post shower routine he made his way back down to the basement. He threw on some random clothes for pajamas and relaxed in his bed. Josh wanted to test out his TV one more time before he gave up on it. He put it on some random movie channel that was playing one of the Star Wars films. _“So far so good.”_ he thought. As if on cue, it began to glitch out. However, this time it was doing something entirely new. The channels it kept changing to seemed to form some kind of phrase, as if it were trying to communicate with him. Josh jumped at the initial static noise and soon began to panic. He pulled his legs to his chest tossing the remote across the room in the process. 

“Shit!” he whispered harshly to himself.

The TV kept changing channels to form the same sentence over and over again.

**“HELP ME JOSH!”** it repeated in faltering tones.

“H-help you?” Josh stuttered.

**“YES! PLEASE HELP ME!”** it said changing the channels again.

“ W-why should I?”

**“BECAUSE WE’RE BOTH LONELY.”**

He hated that the TV was somewhat right. Despite being friends with Brendon and Pete, he was still lonely. Josh sat up in his bed slowly unfolding his legs. The TV had turned to a static scream. The white noise gave him an unsettling feeling. Why did it just… stop? He wanted to help whatever was doing this to his TV, maybe it would finally work if he helped the ghost or whatever it is. The tired boy just wanted his TV back honestly. This has been one hell of a night for Josh so he figured this had been enough television. He got out of bed and kneeled in front of the TV searching for the off button. Josh touched the screen with his palm, he hoped the being would get some rest too. Just as he put his finger on the off button he got a reaction. 

**“THE MIRROR! I’M IN THE MIRROR!”** it screamed.

“AH!” Josh had screamed as he tumbled backwards “The-the mirror?” he said in confusion once he recovered.

**“YES!”**

“What about it?”

**“LOOK IN IT!”**

Josh wasn’t sure if he should do it. There are way too many horror films explaining why listening to supernatural things is a horrible idea. Yet, he felt compelled to help the being. He soon found himself  walking towards his bedside table and picking up the handheld mirror. The TV returned to white noise and static screams behind him once more. When he looked into the mirror's gaze he wasn’t sure what he was going to see. It wasn’t his reflection that stared back at him. Josh threw the mirror onto the bed in shock. He slumped to the ground covering his mouth with both hands. 

“Hey! Be careful!” a voice from the bed said.

Josh’s eyes widened as he turned to face the mirror.

“Josh??” the voice asked timidly “Please don’t be scared.” 

He reached across the bed and grabbed the mirror, taking another look at the reflection. It smiled at him, but it was kind of… cute? Josh shook his head, he did not just think that did he? The boy looked ghost like? Pale? Translucent? Oddly attractive? He couldn’t describe it in words, wait attractive? _“Snap out of it Josh!”_  he mentally scolded himself. 

“First the TV, now the mirror? Are you going to make any more inanimate objects speak to me?” Josh chuckled.

The boy giggled.

“Seriously how are you doing this? Why didn’t you just talk through the mirror in the first place?”

“You seemed to enjoy the TV more,” the boy shrugged.

“Wait a minute, are you the one that's been writing those cryptic ass messages in the mirror after I shower?” Josh asked only mildly upset.

“Maybe… “ the mirror responded trying to stifle a laugh.

“You’re such an asshole oh my god! I yelled at my brother for nothing!” Josh couldn’t help but smile saying that. 

“I was bored!” the mirror said in defense.

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure you were.” Josh said rolling his eyes. “Does this mirror have a name by any chance?”

“The mirror does not have a name. I on the other hand have one and I think it’s Tyler?” Tyler said with uncertainty. “Yeah, it’s Tyler,” He said more sure of himself this time.

“Well, Tyler this was,” Josh paused trying to figure out the right word. “Interesting, but I should probably sleep now. This was… a lot for one night.”

His heart nearly broke as Tyler frowned.

“But, we just started talking!”

“We can talk tomorrow when I can fully comprehend what's happening.”

“You promise?” Tyler seemed really hesitant to stop talking to the other.

“I promise,” Josh responded almost immediately. “Goodnight Tyler.”

“Goodnight Josh,” Tyler said with sadness behind his voice,

Josh placed the mirror delicately back down on the table as he stood up from his spot on the ground. The TV still displayed a static screen from Tyler’s previous outburst. He stretched his legs before walking across the room to turn it off. Yawning quite loudly he crawled under the blankets of his bed feeling a wave of sleep crash over him.

Josh was awoken by two things the next morning: his blaring alarm, and Tyler yelling for it to stop. Realizing what time it was he practically fell out of bed. He quickly turned off his alarm and grabbed any article of clothing that was near him before he made his way to the bathroom. Josh followed the same routine as usual, giving his mom a hug, he left the house and practically sprinted to the bus stop. He wanted this day to go by as fast as possible. The sooner it was over the sooner he could talk to Tyler again! Of course with Josh’s luck, the day went by slower than usual. Josh tapped on his desk as he watched the clock during his last period. When the bell rang after what felt like centuries he bolted out of the class and down the stairs. Tyler was waiting for him and he didn’t want to keep him waiting too long.

After giving his mom a quick hello he went straight to his room.

“Finally!” Tyler exclaimed “I was starting to get worried you weren’t coming back!”

“Why on Earth would I miss out on talking to you?” Josh smiled as he picked up the mirror.   
“So where did you go?” Tyler asked.

“School,” Josh responded bluntly. “Do you mind if we not talk about it?”

“It was probably more interesting than staring at your ceiling all day.”

“Yeah, but it’s also exhausting. Why do you think I’m so tired all the time?”

“I don’t know your life dude!” Tyler said in defense.

“It’s not that interesting, I’d rather know more about yours honestly.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! Like why are you in the mirror? How did you end up in the tree house? Do you remember anything at all?”

“Well, for starters, I’m not really sure how exactly I got in the mirror. I just remember waking up in here one day. I think I fell out of the tree house or… maybe I jumped. That part is really fuzzy for me….” Tyler paused, he looked like he was on the verge of crying.

Josh felt a bit of guilt for bringing this up. He decided that was enough probing for one day.

“So? Do you remember what kind of music you liked?” Josh asked as he took Tyler to one of his shelves that held many records and CD’s.

Tyler’s face lit up when he saw the collection. He couldn’t remember the last time he heard music so he let Josh pick something to start with. The rest of that night Josh had played over half his collection for Tyler, enjoying the many reactions Tyler had. He took a mental note of which songs Tyler asked to hear again and again. Josh began to feel tired, he was barely able to hold up the mirror at this point. He didn’t want to stop talking to Tyler though. Tyler however, saw Josh’s drooping eyelids and urged him to sleep. Josh nodded and walked over to the bed with the mirror still in his hands and fell asleep.

Over the next week Josh found himself talking to Tyler more and more often. He couldn’t explain why he loved talking to him, other than that it felt right. Josh hoped Tyler felt the same about talking to him. He often found himself asking _“Is this what love is?”_ No, this couldn’t be it. It was an insane idea, he wasn’t even sure if Tyler was capable of love. He is a ghost afterall. One particular bus ride he found himself staring out the window with a question nagging at him.

Brendon noticed this change in mood and looked over at the other, “Hey dude, you uh, you alright?”

“Do you think ghost can feel love?” He asked more as a distant thought than actual words coming out of his mouth.

“What?”

“I mean they are spirits of people and all but they don’t exactly have hearts you know…” Josh huffed.

Brendon rubbed the back of his neck not really sure what to make of the situation but he figured he’d entertain Josh with this idea, “You don’t need a heart to love, our math teacher is married and look at him.”

Josh couldn’t help but laugh at that, “Yeah I guess you’re right.”

The bus stopped and Josh gathered his things, “This is our stop,” Brendon stood up and patted his back, “I hope your, whatever problem gets solved.”

“Thanks,” Josh smiles and follows him off the bus then hurries back to his house to Tyler.

“Hey, welcome home.” Tyler smiled when the mirror was picked up, “How was your day, anything interesting happen?”

Josh scoffed, “What are you my mom?” He chuckled and shook his head, “It was fine,” He had to bring it up, he had to say something, “So um, hey, I’ve been wondering… what do you think about me?”

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Uh, do you like me?”

“Well I mean, yeah of course I like you.”

“No I mean….” Josh groaned and nearly hit his head atop the mirror, “Do you like me in _that_ way?” His voice was much louder than he intended.

There was a long pause between the two, Josh felt like his chest was going to burst.

“In what way?”

“Tyler!”

“Look I… I don’t know,”

“What do you mean you don’t know.”

Tyler sighed and looked at the other sadly, “I don’t want to answer that, I don’t want you spending your whole life with a mirror, there are other people out there other humans that you could interact with. I-I’m not good for you. So I’m sorry I’m not going to answer that.”

Josh was in shock, his whole body at this point has tensed up. He felt like crying, His hands were sweating. Josh’s knees buckled and he collapsed to the floor the mirror tumbled out of his hands. Upon hearing it hit the ground Josh scrambled to grab at it, but when he flipped it over and looked at it there was a large crack down the middle. Tyler wasn’t there,

“T-Tyler?” 


**Author's Note:**

> I might add more to this idk :V  
> Give me some ideas on my tumblr @joshdundidit :000


End file.
